Simple Knowing T-Mobile G2x

 

The T-Mobile G2x's feature set is an embarrassment of riches, with plenty of advanced smartphone technology that promises to provide speed and multimedia prowess. As we mentioned, it has the highly praised 1GHz Nvidia dual-core Tegra 2 processor. It does have only 512MB of RAM, but we didn't notice any performance drawbacks in real-world tests. Transitions between menus felt snappy, and we jumped through different points in an HD video clip with zero jittering.

To prove the strength of the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor even further, LG has included the Nvidia Tegra Zone app with the phone. The app lets you easily find, purchase, and download games that take advantage of the Nvidia processor. The G2x comes with Nova and Need for Speed Shift, and we have to say that both games performed very well in our initial tests. Graphics were very smooth and we experienced zero lag time during gameplay.
The touch screen is really responsive, requiring only a simple tap for a touch to register, and thanks to the dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, we were also amazed by how zippy the navigation felt. Simple tasks like scrolling through a Web page or launching an application felt that much quicker. Even the accelerometer kicked in faster when switching from portrait to landscape mode. The G2x comes with a gyroscopic sensor as well.
Beneath the display are the usual Android shortcut keys in the form of touch-sensitive buttons for menu, home, back, and search. On the top right of the phone is the front-facing camera. There are a couple of external speakers on the bottom along with the Micro-USB charging port. The volume rocker is on the right, and the 3.5mm headset jack, HDMI port, and power/screen lock button are on the top. The microSD card slot is located behind the battery cover, but you don't need to remove the battery to access it. On the back of the phone are the camera lens and LED flash.
T-Mobile packages the G2x with an AC adapter, a USB cable, and reference material.
Because of all this power, it's no surprise that the G2x comes equipped with multimedia features galore. It has a Micro-HDMI port so you can hook up the phone to a big-screen television, and with mirroring mode, you can see on the TV whatever is on your phone. If you want to go wireless, the G2x also supports DLNA, a technology that lets you share media on your phone with other DLNA devices wirelessly. The G2x also comes with T-Mobile TV, a T-Mobile service that gives you access to live and on-demand TV.
If you would rather watch your own movies, the G2x comes with 8GB of internal storage. This might not seem like a lot, but you can load additional media onto a microSD card--the phone supports up to 32GB of extra storage. To get content onto your device, you can treat the phone like a mass storage device by dragging and dropping media, or you can use the DoubleTwist software to sync content wirelessly.

Do You Like LG Genesis?

At first glance, the Genesis doesn't look too different from the most recent LG EnV phone, the LG EnV Touch. Both have a large touch-screen display dominating the front, and both have a somewhat clunky rectangular design. The Genesis even has the same shiny chrome border. However, at 4.72 inches long by 2.43 inches wide by 0.66 inch deep, the Genesis is much larger than the EnV Touch. In fact, at around 6 ounces, the Genesis is perhaps one of the bulkiest Android handsets we've held, with the possible exception of the Casio G'zOne Commando.
Despite its heft, you get a typical-size touch-screen display, measuring around 3.5 inches diagonally. The simple 480x800-pixel TFT display won't bowl you over like a Super AMOLED might, but we still found it usable thanks to the screen's 16 million colors. However, the screen suffers substantially under bright sunlight, which washes it out quite a lot.

Thankfully, the Genesis's capacitive display is miles better than the EnV Touch's resistive screen--no calibration required here. The interface mirrors that of the LG Optimus U, with five shortcuts along the bottom of the display that lead to the phone dialer, the phonebook, the main menu, the messaging inbox, and the Web browser. Those same five shortcuts stay at the bottom even when you're in the main menu. As for text input, the Genesis comes with both the standard multitouch Android keyboard and Swype. Aside from these few differences, the interface is not too different from default Android 2.2.
Beneath the display are the four Android keys corresponding to the menu, home, back, and search functions, separated into two long buttons. The 3.5mm headset jack and Micro-USB port are on the right spine, while the camera key, volume rocker, and screen lock/power key are on the left. The camera lens and LED flash sit on the back.
The reason the Genesis is so bulky is that it flips open to reveal yet another touch-screen display plus a five-row QWERTY keyboard. The hinge feels sturdy but is still easy enough to open and close without struggle. The screen flips open to two different positions--you can set it to a slight angle, which is the optimum position for when you want to use the keyboard, or you can open it up all the way so that it is flat. The reason you might want to do the latter is because the aforementioned controls on the left spine (volume, camera, and screen lock/power) are easier to access this way.
The internal display mirrors the external display, except that it measures 3.2 inches diagonally instead of 3.5. As you might expect, it also displays everything in landscape mode. Our biggest complaint about the internal display is that the lower portion of the screen is rather difficult to access, as our fingers kept bumping up against the top part of the keyboard even when the phone was opened up all the way.
Conveniently, the keyboard has a big square navigation pad on the far right to provide an alternative to the touch screen. Sitting above and below the navigation pad are the Send and End/Power buttons. On the far left of the keyboard are the four Android function keys--menu, home, back, and search--plus a dedicated voice command button.
We found the five-row QWERTY keyboard extremely roomy, even with the navigation controls on either side. There are a dedicated number row, a large Space key, shortcut keys to the browser, a new text message, and a .com button. The keys are well-spaced, and each key is raised above the surface for quick and easy typing.

The Samsung DoubleTime Information

The DoubleTime is a breath of fresh air for those of you (like me) who are a little tired of gazing upon the same tall, thin, black smartphone design. It's all white, with two sturdy hinges that swing open the 3.2-inch touch screen (at two different angles) to reveal an identical screen within, and a four-row QWERTY keyboard. Different, right?

The Samsung DoubleTime

At 4.5 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide and 0.6 inch thick, it's a relatively thick, compact device, so very different than razor-thin phones such as the Motorola Droid Razr and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I don't mind the girth, in truth, especially since I enjoy the phone design. The width gives me something to grab hold of, and I was actually able to walk down the street shooting video and taking photos one-handed (while holding my lunch in the other), something I don't necessarily recommend, but something that is also more difficult to accomplish on thinner handsets. You may have to coax it into tighter pockets, but it fits fine in my cavernous purse and wasn't too uncomfortable hitching a ride in the back pocket of my trustiest pair of jeans.In addition to the bulkier design, the DoubleTime is weightier, too: 5.2 ounces. Again, the heft adds to a sense of durability that you don't always get with plastic phones.
Back to those twin screens. The DoubleTime's 3.2-inchers have an HVGA (480x320 pixels) resolution. Icons look a little small, and Web sites aren't as easy to read as on larger screens, but it looks colorful and bright enough as long as you're not in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, the phone only runs Android 2.2 Froyo, and Samsung says it doesn't have anything to announce just now about upgrades. While it's unlikely the phone will make the jump to Ice Cream Sandwich (at least not any time soon,) those of you who are happy with Gingerbread won't miss too much. The DoubleTime still supports most features, including hot-spot connectivity for up to five devices (when you subscribe to a separate monthly plan.)
A version of Samsung's TouchWiz interface rides atop Froyo. This gives you the ability to see an overview of your home screens (up to seven) when you pinch in, and access system settings when you pull down the notifications bar. It also has a stylized look and feel.
Below the external screen are four physical buttons that are nice and responsive--they pull up the menu, go Home, go back, and launch search. On the subtly textured backing is the 3.2-megapixel camera. You have to pop off the back cover to reach the microSD card slot. Although the DoubleTime comes with 2GB preinstalled (thanks, Samsung and AT&T!), you'll have to remove the battery to remove or replace the card. The phone takes up to 32GB in total.
The other external features are predictable: there's a nice volume rocker on the left spine, the power button and 3.5 millimeter headset jack up top, and the Micro-USB charging port on the bottom.
As I mentioned before, the screen flips open like a book to reveal the keyboard and second, internal screen. The keyboard manages to be both compact and roomy, with space between the squarish buttons. The proportion was just right for my hands, and although the backlit keys don't rise very high from the surface, the rubberized coating and responsive feedback helped me type with confidence. I also like the four physical navigation buttons above the QWERTY. All of the phone's physical buttons sport a bright pink accent, which won't appeal to all demographics.

The LG Revere Ships With A 1,000-entry Phone Book

The LG Revere ships with a 1,000-entry phone book, with room in each entry for five numbers, two e-mail addresses, an IM screen name, a street address, and notes. You can customize the contact with a photo for caller ID, and any of 27 different sounds for either a ringtone or a message alert tone. Each contact can also be organized into different caller groups.

 

Other basic features include a speakerphone, vibrate mode, a calculator, a tip calculator, a calendar, a to-do list, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a world clock, and a notepad. The Revere also has voice commands, text and multimedia messaging, voice memo recording, GPS with VZ Navigator support, Bluetooth, and Info Search, which searches through the contents of your phone.

If you decide to connect to the Web, the Revere also offers a rudimentary mobile Web browser, mobile instant messaging, and mobile e-mail support. Verizon's Mobile Email application does require a subscription to use, but with it you can easily access all the popular Web e-mail services, including your own POP3 e-mails, as long as you have the server information. It does require a $5 monthly fee if you don't already have a $9.99-or-higher data plan.

On the front of the phone is a monochrome 0.98-inch external display. It shows the usual date and time information as well as remaining battery life, signal strength, and caller ID. Directly above the display is the camera lens. A 2.5mm headset jack sits on the left spine along with the volume rocker and Micro-USB charging port. On the right is the dedicated camera button.

The Revere flips open easily yet firmly thanks to its sturdy hinge. It seemed as though we could open and close the phone several times without ill effects. The internal display is pretty typical for a basic phone--it measures 2 inches diagonally, and has 262,000-color support and a 176x220-pixel resolution. We're actually quite pleased with how bright and colorful the display is considering the phone's entry-level status. The text and graphics aren't as sharp as we would like, but that's to be expected. You can adjust the banner, the backlight time, the brightness, the wallpaper, the display theme, the menu layout, the type and size of the font, and the internal clock.

Underneath the display is a navigation array that consists of two soft keys, a square toggle with a middle OK key, a dedicated speakerphone key, a Clear/voice command key, and the Send and End/Power keys. The toggle can double as shortcuts to three user-defined applications with the up, left, and down direction buttons. The right direction button brings up a customizable My Shortcuts menu that you can populate with even more shortcuts.

We found both the navigation array and the number keypad beneath it to be quite roomy. The keypad is just a tiny bit flatter than we would like, but it has enough separation between each key that we could still text and dial by feel. Each key is quite big, and when pressed, the keys click satisfyingly into place.

The iPhone 4 Is An Object Of Rare Beauty

ust as the frenzy of the iPad launch subsides, it is time for anti-Applefrothers to have a new device waved in their angry faces and for pro-Apple droolers to get verbally bitch-slapped in the blogosphere for falling once more for Steve Jobs's huckstering blandishments.

A year ago, iPhone 3GS was released with a new operating system and now iPhone 4 arrives with iOS 4.0, offering an array of long-awaited functions. Since that 2009 3GS launch, the Taiwanese manufacturer HTC in particular has upped its game and risen to Apple's challenge, producing handsets for the Android OS that offer slews of features, including free turn-by-turn navigation, multi-tasking, removable batteries and highly customisable interfaces. What can Apple do to wrench back the crown?

The iPhone 4 is an object of rare beauty. Noticeably slimmer but a trifle heavier than predecessors, its new heft only adds to the profound feeling of quality and precision that the device exudes. Sharper edged, it is girt by a stainless steel band which cleverly houses all the antennae required by a modern smartphone. Jobs himself made a comparison between iPhone 4 and a classic Leica. With this device in my hand, I feel that I am holding its designer Jonathan Ive's personal prototype, hand-machined as a proof-of-concept model. Ive is surely one of the most influential and gifted designers Britain has ever produced and the iPhone 4 may well be his masterpiece.

The phone is available unlocked in the UK. Mine came with a Vodafone mini-SIM which I swapped for an Orange, the network change working perfectly straight away. On the front can be discerned the lineaments of a forward-facing camera and, in the glorious glass obverse (which leads one to speculate that future models might allow solar charging), an extra eye reveals that LED flash has finally arrived. The existence of the front-facing camera allows video calling: Apple's new open standard for this, called FaceTime, neatly and transparently turns an initial mobile phone call into WiFi video chat, saving data charges.

Once I had located someone else with an iPhone 4 (not easy the week before launch), I found FaceTime worked with astounding ease and in very impressive resolution. The main camera has been upgraded to 5 megapixels (crucially, without diminution of pixel size) and produces stunning images that might be, for many, reason enough to upgrade, especially when you consider the iPhone 4's remarkable new Retina display. Retina delivers the crispest images I have ever seen on a smartphone. I found myself staring at onscreen text in disbelief.

Apple has produced, and third parties will doubtless emulate and improve, rubberised wraparound belts for iPhone 4 called Bumpers. They come in all kinds of colours and give the device great resilience. (I saw an Apple executive gleefully hurling his bumpered iPhone 4 across a room). With 720p HD video, a full-featured iMovie editing app, sweet multi-tasking, better mail, spellcheck, a bigger battery, inbuilt 3-axis gyroscope (wait for the gaming implications of that alone), extra pep and polish and that droolworthy form factor, Apple has once more leapfrogged the competition. HTC Android handsets still impress and offer a viable alternative for many, but iPhone 4's star quality is irresistible.

The Nice Way To Describe LG Esteem

The nice way to describe it is that the LG Esteem is a brick with racing stripes. It's a thick black square with sharp edges and thin silver metal accents down the spines (the square edges on the phone's face take some getting used to.) It's a hefty 6-ouncer, which we usually see when a phone is brimming with metal accents and a thick keyboard. There's no keyboard here, but the upside is that the phone is sturdy-strong and likely to take a little abuse before cracking.

Beaming up at you is a 4.3-inch WVGA touch screen (480x800-pixel resolution) with a Corning Gorilla Glass topper and support for 262,000 colors. The result is a bright, colorful, and sharp screen. The Esteem runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, with a subtle custom interface that adds just a few touches, like access to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, airplane mode, and so on from the pull-down notification bar. Swype comes preinstalled on the Esteem, but you can always switch to the standard Android keyboard if you'd prefer.

The Esteem, as we said, is a thick phone, and the dimensions match--5 inches tall, 2.6 inches wide, and 0.5-inch thick. It's a bit bulky for most pockets and the weight is significant--just know what you're getting into.

Below the screen are four touch-sensitive buttons: Menu, Home, Back, and Search. On the right side there's a covered Micro-HDMI adapter port and the volume rocker. On the left, you'll find the covered Micro-USB slot. Up top are the lock/power button and the 3.5-millimeter headset jack. The 5-megapixel camera lens is on the back, along with a flash (it does 720p HD video capture, too). Beneath the soft-touch back cover is the microSD card slot.

In addition to the rear-facing camera, there's a 1.3-megapixel lens above the display that's well-suited for self-portraits and video calls.

With Android, you know where you stand. As with the rest of the Gingerbread men, the Esteem has all the Google goodies--Google Maps, Gmail, turn-by-turn navigation, Google Places, YouTube, the works.

That subtle custom experience we mentioned also finds its way into other aspects of the phone, for instance the deep integration of several social networks. For example, when you begin adding accounts, you can sign into Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace apps that have been customized by LG to work on the phone. LG has also made Yahoo and Windows Live Hotmail accounts easy to sign into from the Accounts menu.

Back in the land of apps, LG and MetroPCS have laid down a thick welcome mat. The upside is that the phone looks less empty and more populated than it might otherwise. The downside is, if you don't like the selections, the prepopulated app tray may smack of uninstallable bloatware. For starters, there's Astro file manager, an application manager, Yahoo finance, Guided Tours, Loopt, Pocket Express, Polaris Office, and the Rhapsody music service.

There's also the SmartShare home networking app (the Esteem supports DLNA), and essentials like a clock, a calendar, a calculator, a newsreader, and a memo pad. MetroPCS has also added its regular complement of apps, including a browser, a navigator, a backup app, an online storefront for purchasing more ringtones and music, a 411 service, and a Wi-Fi sniffer. There's also the MasterCard-backed VCPay mobile app for MetroPCS customers to use for purchases--it's designed to be used as a debit card for those who don't have a credit card, and it requires a $1.49 monthly fee.

The Design Of Samsung Focus S

Classy, sleek, and open are three words I'd use to describe the Samsung Galaxy S II phones, and the same can be said of the Focus S. The all-black phone has rounded corners and flat sides. As with AT&T's Galaxy S II and slightly larger (and LTE-capable) Skyrocket, the handset has a slightly dimpled back cover and a slight rise where the cover snaps into place at the bottom of the phone. A larger handset, the Focus S measures nearly 5 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by a svelte 0.3 inch thick. With its slimness and scant 3.9-ounce weight, it feels a little insubstantial, and I'm unconvinced of its ability to sustain casualties from butterfingers' repeated drops.

The Focus S has a gorgeous 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a WVGA resolution of 800x480 pixels, and support for 16 million colors. As with other phones with this screen technology, colors are vivid and stand out from the screen; it may make photos and video look more saturated on the screen than they are when viewed from your computer, so beware!

Running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, the Focus S' interface is simply a single start screen populated with dynamic live tiles, many of which update with new information (this page is customizable to a degree--you can determine color and app order, and pin and unpin tiles). There's a second screen that shows your apps.

Above the display is the 1.3-megapixel camera. Below it are three touch-sensitive buttons that correspond to the back button, home, and search. Pressing and holding the back button also lets you switch among tasks. The same motion on the home key launches voice actions.

Windows Phones tend to have a few more physical buttons than phones on other platforms. Unfortunately, these buttons are rather cheap-looking lumps of plastic on the Focus S, and lack the polish found on the rest of the design. On the left is the volume rocker, and on the right spine you'll find the power and camera shutter buttons. The Micro-USB charging port is down below, and up top there's the 3.5mm headset jack. Flip the phone over to locate the 8-megapixel camera lens and LED flash.

Nokia 603

The Nokia 603 is supposed to be the workhorse of the new Symbian Belle portfolio, balancing the value-for-money virtue in the low mid-range spectrum. Thus it is pretty average in terms of specs – 3.5” display, 1GHz processor and 5MP camera with 720p video recording but no LED flash.

It shares the “brightest mobile display” of the Nokia 701, however, and has an abundance of swappable back covers in various colors for the joy of the teen market, but does it deserve its price point, and is it distinctive enough apart from those different shell paints? Read on our review to find out...

During an event in Turkey today, Nokia launched their latest Symbian Belle enabled handset the Nokia 603, a 3.5-inch touch screen smartphone that is billed as an affordable Nokia device with “leading edge features at a mid-range price point.”
According to the guys over at Nokia Conversations, the new Nokia 603 offers a ClearBlack nHD display, pentaband WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 3G, and a 1Ghz processor.

The Nokia 630 also sports a 5 megapixel camera with 720p video, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi, Symbian Belle OS obviously and comes preloaded with Angry Birds, Adobe PDF reader, Vlingo, Microsoft Office Communicator, Shazam and Fruit Ninja along with onboard photo and video editing software.

The Nokia 603 measures 113.8 x 57.1 x 12.7mm and weighs in at 106.9 grams and has a battery that is said to offer up to 7 hours talk time and up to 460 hours standby time.

The Nokia 603 will be available in both black and white but there are also 6 swappable back covers to choose from. As for when the Nokia 603 will become available it is expected to release on Q4 with an estimated price tag of roughly 200 Euros before carrier subsidies or local taxes.